Latina Personal Finance Blog

Refinance!!!

2010-08-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of refinancing my house. So far it looks like a hell of a good deal and I will be able to knock off almost 2 points on my interest rate, meaning more $ in my pocket every month while at the same time building mo' better faster equity. Right? Isn't that how that works?

We are hoping to get a closing date in September. Please, Lord, please! I just have to have the appraisal come in at a certain amount and then the closing costs will be rolled painlessly into the loan. This will help me SO much!

In other financial news my household budget is done through Dec. 2012 and by then I should really be doing very well and completely back on my feet and then some post-divorce financial nightmares.

Household Budget Done Thru 12/2011

2010-06-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have DONE my entire budget through Dec. 2011! Is that extreme? Hey, it just makes me feel like I got my financial situation under control. Every dollar is accounted for. If most people DON'T do a household budget--which is certainly the case--no wonder people always get in trouble financially speaking and have to use credit cards. FUCK. THAT!!!

I went to Costco last night; Mr. Wonderful put me on his account b/c he's well, wonderful! It is very easy to spend money there but I only purchased 3 items (including a humongous thing of toilet paper. I better not have to buy TP for months and months now!).

So Upset about This Debt

2010-05-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

So I have over $14K left of my ex-husband's custody battle debt to pay. In return, he signed off on my house, my retirement accounts, my car, my income and my current checking and savings accounts. I am quite upset about being stuck with this debt. The right thing would have been for him to take it off my hands. But that's why I'm divorcing him, b/c he is not the type to do the right thing. I am ecstatic however, that I have my life and my assets back. Forever.

I can only pay $300/month for the rest of 2010. Next year I hope to jack that up to $500/month. If so then I should be done paying it in mid-2012? Hopefully.

Think I'll Be Ready for Next Year's Taxes

2010-04-05T11:37:00.001-07:00

I have spoken w/H.R. at Job #1, already changed my W4 at Job #2, and once I change my W4 at Job #1 around July-ish, I should be fine for next year. THANK GOD. Now I just have to survive writing a big fucking check next week.

Now This is Rough

2010-03-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

I did my taxes earlier this week on TurboTax. It said I will owe over $3500. I am appalled and don't know how that can possibly be right. Therefore I will go visit a real tax accountant on Tuesday. I am screwed however, b/c I am now having to file "Married Filing Separately" so no matter what, all of a sudden my tax rate will be higher.

So much for going to Africa this year. That $ was my Africa trip. Looks like that'll have to happen next year. And this accountant will need to prepare me better for next year. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Budgets done for Vacations

2010-02-28T13:11:00.001-08:00

Upcoming vacations that have line items in my household budget:

Las Vegas - 2 or 3 nights/3 or 4 days, haven't decided yet (April)
Chicago - 3 nights/4 days (May)
Virginia - 3 nights/4 days (June)
Missouri - 4 nights/5 days (July)
Botswana, Africa - a week and a half? not sure yet (prob. October?)

Each vacation has several hundred dollars applied to it except for the Africa trip which has at least a couple grand applied to it. There will no lodging costs for the Chicago (Stefano got the hotel) or Missouri (staying at Brandone's house) trips and for part of the Virginia (staying w/Bean for at least a couple nights) trip.

Killer Deal on Shoes

2010-01-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

I am wearing a very nice brown suede pair of classy pumps that I got for $6--down from their original price of $70! I also got another pair of brown leather pumps that I paid $6 for--down from their orig. price of $65! How, you may ask? From the clearance rack at JC Penney. Another 30% off the sale price. And finally using a 15% off coupon from doing their online survey. Ta-da! Damn, this shit turns me ON!!!!

Budget 2010

2010-01-05T11:05:00.001-08:00

So far I've done my household budget up to May 2010. Things are holding steady and I should even be able to start up a Roth IRA around February. I am guessing I'll look into installing it at my credit union.

There's some extravagant things I still want to include in my budget and with some planning, I should be able to do most of them. Tops are:

Microdermabrasion session (deep facial cleansing)
New bedroom set/new mattress
New dining room set
New home stereo system
Bigger flat screen TV for downstairs w/entertainment cabinet
Lasik surgery on my other eye???
Upgrade my basic cable to include premium movie channels
and of course, lots and lots of trips: Vegas in April, Virginia in June, Missouri in July, and Africa in October. And I want to pay cash for all of them!

Extra Gig Money

2009-12-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

So now I'm a gigging musician and my guitarist has guaranteed me $50-$100 per gig. It's not a lot of dough and barely covers my gas expenses to rehearsal and the gig, but that's not why I play music anymore. Now I play for the pure enjoyment of it, to have fun, play some excellent tunes, keep up my bass chops and get better, make friends, meet people, etc.! But it's nice to have the extra walking around money, that's for sure. Plus this weekend I made $175 for two gigs, so that's actually a nice substantial amount of extra $ for the week. I bought one of my boyfriends breakfast on Sunday morning and bought the other boyfriend dinner on Sunday night and was happy to do it!

My New Money Life

2009-11-17T10:41:00.001-08:00

I will not quit Job #2 b/c the extra $ is just too good to pass up. Sure, it would be great to have my evenings free, esp. now that I'm playing in a band again, but big deal, ultimately. I'd just be sitting around the house watching tv/reading or out at Happy Hours spending $.

So I have much more $ at my disposal now that I am sans a husband and stepchild. Unfortunately it is temporarily going to lawyers' fees and some ridiculously expensive car repairs over the past couple of months (Oct: $700+ and last week: $881!!!). But I still have a nice chunk of extra $ to spend on ME. I am also spending a small amount of $ on my BFFF, JR, but that is worth it to me in order to have him with me and be my constant companion. I refuse to spend $ on a man again but hanging out with JR is different b/c 1. He is so much fun and makes me so happy and 2. I WANT to treat him to drinks, movies, etc.--not HAVE to do it.

Retail Therapy: My Version

2009-09-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

These things are not expensive but do enhance my quality of life and provide a little therapy these days.

Bought:

Brain game word book (bought with coupon)
Big bottle of Coconut Rum (the value $25 bottle, heh heh)

Need to buy:

New David Bromberg CD
Luxury robe from...? Victoria's Secretions?
New Sports bras (time to replace anyway)
New dainty underthings (that he hasn't seen/touched!!!)
New rugs to replace his as I don't want to see them anymore

Well It's All About Priorities, Isn't It?

2009-09-03T14:38:00.001-07:00

We were standing around the office yesterday. The subject of shopping came up and somehow it was pointed out that I, Adela, am the Master of Financial Wisdom, Coupons, Smart Shopping, etc. Another girl said that she took the Dave Ramsey financial peace class and they wanted her to cut her shopping budget way down, but she didn't agree with doing so. She said her clothing budget is $100/month and that was as far down as she could go.

I didn't tell them that I NEVER go clothes shopping. I mean, I've gone clothes shopping what, twice this year? And once for a bathing suit. I did admit to going to Taxi Taxi and getting stuff during their $1 sales but that's just b/c I couldn't imagine the looks of horror I would get from these other women when I confessed to never going clothes shopping. Oh my God. I've got better things to do with my time and my money.

But this is why I am going to be SO wealthy when I'm in my 40's and she won't! (She and I are the same age exactly!)

At Least Now I'll Be a Lot Richer Moneywise

2009-08-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much damn money S cost me. Now that he's out of my life and budget, my re-done household budget through January 2010 is much fatter. I am going to have SO much more $ by the end of the year. He was SO expensive to keep: massages, clothes, car repairs, haircuts, cell phones, cell phone plan, gas, movies, wrestling Pay per Views, DVD's, XBox and games, PSP and PSP movies and games, Starbucks, CUSTODY BATTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! And his daughter too. And I have a copy of his Social Security statement to prove that he has never made any significant income--EVER.

So yep. My days of footing the bills are over. Any men that dare to cross my path in the future better be prepared to SPEND. And one more thing: if I ever get married again, there WILL BE A PRENUP. I now know that marriage is a contract and a business arrangement in addition to all that other stuff it's supposed to be too.

Changed my W-2

2009-08-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

It's always a challenge to try and stay one step ahead (legally) of the KGB I mean IRS. I have recently changed my W-2 at Job #2 so that hopefully having more $ taken out from here on out will soften next year's tax bill. Having a second job really hurts a gal, as far as the tax bill is concerned.

Reasons to be optimistic:

I have never adjusted my W-2 ever since I started working a second job back in 2007
I continue to max out my FSA at work (a measly $1,500, but still, every penny counts)
I did not do any skin care classes this summer at the public library, so will not be "punished" for that extra income

Reasons to be a little worried come April 2010 anyway:

S didn't work 8 months last year and this year he was employed all year; hence his income will be a lot higher
I contributed only the bare minimum (well, with a .05% on top of that because I like round numbers!) to my 403(b)--but I did that last year too since I was the only one working and we needed all the cash we could get at the time for living expenses and frankly, I am gonna keep this up anyway and open a Roth IRA as soon as is humanly possible! I'd rather pay the taxes now than when I retire anyway since I do expect to have my income keep going up, up, up...

Bad Grocery Shopping Idea

2009-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Since I am always at freakin' work or in the car I thought I would force S to help me out with the grocery shopping, which I do 100% of. So I sent him and the baby to get groceries last week--I needed nothing at the time, I usually eat on the road so I just told him to get what they needed. When I shop for the household I typically spend $60-80 at the most. They spent $122!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they got mostly JUNK food: chips, salsa, doughnuts, chocolate, soda. Arrrrgh!

Good Deals

2009-06-26T08:24:00.001-07:00

While shopping for a new bathing suit (badly needed--my old one is getting too saggy for comfort and modesty!) I decided to stop by the dress dept. I found 2 $70 dresses that would be great for work since I'm trying to find things easier to jump into in the morning since mornings are very difficult times for me. Dresses totally fit that bill, requiring no matching except for jewelry and shoes! And they were on sale for $15 each!!! Yesterday I wore the black and white one and got 3 compliments throughout the day, including from S!

I've also gotten lots of good coupons lately including: 15% off my next JC Penney purchase (going to go get a couple new summer tops), coupon for Boston Market, buy 1 Cici's pizza buffet get 1 free, 20% off my next Payless Shoes purchase (gonna go get some black sandals for summer and since they've got BOGO 'til Monday get the baby some good summer sandals), and coupon for Souper Salad. Got to love coupons and good deals for things you need and are gonna buy anyway!

AT&T MC Sucks But I'll Use Them Anyway

2009-06-09T16:37:00.001-07:00

Those bastards gave me an offer I couldn't refuse: transfer balances over at 0% interest until March 2010. Although I didn't want to give them any more $ on general principle b/c I despise them, I transferred $4K over, freeing up totally my Visa and most of my Discover card. This will help our budget breathe a little easier, for although the $4K came with a 3% fee of $120, I'll be saving well over that in the Visa/Discover interest fees over the next 10 months.

Retirement Funds: Creeping Back Up

2009-05-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Slowly, but surely? Over a couple grand earned in the past month!

Taxes, How I Hate Them

2009-04-11T08:38:00.001-07:00

Damn these taxes. It looks like I finally finished them today on Turbo-Tax. B/c S did not work hardly at all last year our income went down, but then so did our taxes. I'm just frustrated b/c I save every damn little receipt through the year on every last little possible deduction and this year it doesn't make much of a difference b/c the standard deduction is still higher. Damn! I am going to have to adjust my W-4 at Job #2 eventually to help out with next year's almost-certain tax blow, but I'm thinking I'll do that sometime in the early fall. I still need that extra $ to make as much of a dent in this debt as possible, right now!

BTW I HATE it when people talk about getting a tax return. I want to shake them and say, "You stupid idiot!" The 3 years I've been filing married-jointly have been ok, except for last year which sucked b/c I made all that extra $ at my 2nd job(s). The 1st year we were married we had to pay $700+, which is almost tolerable. Last year sucked and we paid $2,200--OUCH!!! This year looks like we'll be out $500+. Now that's more about the right speed, but if I adjust my W-4 hopefully we won't be pinched too bad next year again.

Budget Done thru Dec. 2009

2009-04-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

I completed the excel spreadsheet of our household budget through Dec. 2009. Lots of cool things will happen this year, such as:

Paying off the PT Cruiser, c. Aug-Sept.
Paying off the Discover Card, c. Nov. or Dec.
Although this is not the best thing in the world to happen, it may not mean much in the long run so I'll list it: we got our appraisal from HCAD and it said our home value went down, so that means our property tax bill next year is less. Hey, at least we'll save $ on that!

Taxes Went Down

2009-03-20T14:35:00.001-07:00

My last paycheck (3/13) reflected -$30ish bucks in taxes. I called HR to confirm that this is the new tax base. Nice little raise there, and much needed since our budget is, as always, tight as ever and I have the psychological need for a safe cushion, unlike DH who would spend every dime if he could.

Boooo Economy

2009-03-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

So the rumor I heard is true. The public library has no funds for programming this summer. This means my Teen Skin Care program will probably get no bookings; at least, I haven't received a single phone call and it's already March. Usually my summer is getting booked by February. Crap! That was an extra $1,040 I made last summer. Well, at least my summer will be freed up so I can spend time with the baby in July as well as work on my documentary.

Balance

2009-02-17T09:17:00.001-08:00

Although I keep inching our debt repayments (CC's) as close to maximum as possible, I still struggle with paying the debt off AS FAST AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE compared to breathing easier, having a life, and reducing marital strife.

I redid the budget today again--and when I say "budget" I am actually speaking of one of our many budgets via Excel spreadsheet. The budgets are:

A household budget that consists of my and S's take-home salaries.
Another budget that consists of my salary from Job #2.
An overall budget reduction spreadsheet.
All of our numerous savings accounts, of which there are roughly 12, each with its own purpose.

Today I redid budgets #2 and #3. I reduced that particular CC payment from $300/month to $200/month for a few months, thereby extending that CC payoff by a couple of months. But if it means we don't have to WORRY so much and I can take Thursday nights off from Job #2 from now on and I can relax more and not be so uptight about spending an extra few bucks here and there, then it's worth it for me, for my mental health, for my marriage, etc. etc. I keep having to remind myself of that!!!

I HATE AT&T Universal Mastercard

2009-01-22T14:31:00.001-08:00

Those bastards! I have been with them since I went to Spain as a college student in 1992 (or so). I have transferred 2 other CC balances to them so they can be paid off at the APR rates of 6.9% and 4.9%, respectively. I had another portion with them that was at a reasonable ~10%. Well, logging onto their website today I see that my next payment due is more than I expected. A closer look at the most recent statement revealed that the 10% portion has just jumped up to 17%!!!!!!

I called them up, furious and demanded them to lower that rate. They said I can either accept the new terms or I could reject them. If I chose to reject them then once my card expired it will automatically be cancelled. I said fine, I reject!!! Assholes. I am not surprised though. Like Dave Ramsey says, they are all snakes.

Budget done thru Sept. 2009

2009-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

I have done the household budget through mid-Sept. 2009. I tried to remember occasional irregular payments (life insurance, vehicle inspection, etc.) but I am sure I forgot one or two. The final adjustment I've made is to add 2 haircuts for me since I totally forgot about those. Regardless, the budget looks pretty good and this is with lowballing DH's take-home salary. In other words, the budget has a good amount of wiggle room and this is a worst-case scenario so I do feel like breathing a big sigh of relief. Of course, it is not set in stone since I am also guessing at how much extra $ I will be bringing home during the summer when I start to teach skin care classes at the public libraries again. I should start to get bookings for those hopefully this month and next and then we'll have a much better idea of what my extra summer income will look like. Speaking of which, I did give myself a sizeable raise. Last year I charged $80/class. This year I raised it to $95/class. DH agreed that I should keep it under $100 for the psychological effect, but that's still a good sized raise! So last year I did 13 branch libraries; perhaps with my increased fee I'll do less this summer but that is all right with me since that is a lot of work running around and doing all those classes!

Gas is $1.39 near my house so again, one reason the budget is looking good is that I went ahead and reduced my gas costs projection a little more in the beginning of 2009 since it does not seem that gas prices will jump anytime soon. I still have my summer gas costs at a high rate, however, and I am NOT adjusting those. Credit card APR's and payments are currently still low and the first jump in rates does not occur until April. The next APR jump is in May and the final one is in Oct/Nov. But I will worry about those when they happen. Who knows, maybe DH's salary will increase by then anyway, either to a raise or promotion at work or he will be working at the jail by then making $28/hour.

Regardless, I have now spent one entire year contributing the minimum (2%) to my retirement account and I am itching to get back up to the 10% neighborhood. So when DH's salary goes back up for whatever reason, I am going to open up a Roth IRA toot suite, even if it's just a small one while we're still paying off our debts. So the end of 2009 looks pretty good and we should be completely out of debt by early-mid 2010. Dare I even imagine what that will feel like?

A Diamond Ring

2008-12-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

I told S the only thing I want for Xmas (for reasons that are way too complicated to get into here) is a "real" diamond ring, since all he got me before we got married was a little diamond promise ring. I did the leg work, went online and looked at rings on websites, went to stores and tried some on, hunted for the deals, and found what I believe to be the best deal right now. I found a beautiful 1-carat ring that was "originally" well into the 4 figures--almost $1,200!!! (Though Kay Jewelers has the same ring for almost $1,500.) Well it was reduced well into the 3 figures!!! On top of that it was reduced further as an in-store purchase this week! On top of all that, I had a 15% off coupon!!! S picked up the ring last night before the sale ended this week and I can't say which I had more fun looking at, the ring or the receipt! The thrill and art of the deal! And here it is:

Budget Help with Low Gas Prices

2008-12-10T11:45:00.001-08:00

Last night I saw gas for $1.47. It is $1.49 by our house. Lord, I know we are in a recession--and have been for the past 12 months at least--but these low gas prices are really, really assisting us and our budget. I have lowered the gas budget through Christmas and they are saying these prices will continue to stay low awhile longer through the new year.

I have to take the car in tomorrow to possibly get it fixed. It's making a weird noise underneath, could be suspension, shocks, axle, I don't know. So the budget will be able to now support the cost for this as well as a good chuck of our +$200 shortage for property taxes due Jan. 31.

Spending $ to Save $

2008-12-03T13:14:00.002-08:00

The other day S bought a $25 Starbux card membership which entitles him to a 15% discount for the rest of his life. If this is true, then the $25 was a great investment, as much $ as he spends at Starbux! It will surely pay for itself inside of a month!

On a lesser scale, I paid $1 for a coupon book from Boston Market. I already used the 1st coupon this week and saved $3 and change. I love BM b/c it is some of the healthiest "fast" food you can get!

BTW gas has been $1.59 near my house for almost 2 weeks now. With the recession now in full swing hopefully gas prices will stay low for awhile longer. I was thinking they'd shoot back up before T-giving; I was wrong. Now my new prediction is right before X-mas, but I hope not.

Net Worth is Down

2008-12-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

I use Net Worth IQ to track my net worth every month. It has been depressing the last few months thanks to the economy. Although I am making decent headway in paying down our debts my net worth keeps sinking due to losing thousands in my retirement accounts. Still, it's a cool website and it's neat to check your monthly archives and track your financial progress in the world.

A Little Bit of Shopping

2008-11-30T17:04:00.001-08:00

While I avoid "Black Friday" like the plague that it metaphorically is, I did get out on Saturday and did my part to boost the economy (snort!). I had to go to Target for toilet paper, but since the damn parking lot was so packed I was forced to park near the Old Navy. However, needing new jeans anyway (my size 2's and 4's truthfully no longer fit me anymore and I need to quit pretending they do!) I thought I'd peek inside and see what kinds of excellent deals these stores were supposedly running. Well, I ended up buying a pair of jeans for $9.99, 4 shirts for $5 each, 2 lacy camisole shirts for $5 each, and 2 cardigans for work for $10 each. Yep, that was not a bad deal at all!

$800 on average? I don't THINK so.

2008-11-26T11:06:00.001-08:00

They say the average U.S. family spends roughly $800 on holiday gifts. The recommendation is to spend no more than 1% of your annual income on your holiday gifts. I spend waaaaayyy less than that. Part of it is b/c I am a great bargain shopper; part of it is b/c S and I simply do not really spend very much $ on each other or the baby, considering; and part of it is b/c I do not have that many people to buy for in the first place. I really only buy for me, S, the baby, 1 aunt, 1 uncle, 1 cousin, and my mom, though her present counts as a combination b-day/Xmas present (she is NOT big on holidays anyway). Lately 2 small kids belonging to my aunt's granddaughter have been added to the list as well, since we spent Xmas Day at her house last year. Sometimes I'll get something for 1-2 friends, depending on if I'll see them right around the holidays. So less than 10-11 people, that's not too bad! And that's how I like it.

Gas Prices and Debt Free Friends

2008-11-21T13:07:00.001-08:00

Today gas is $1.74 near my house. Praise Jesus. This is SO helping our household budget. Please God please let this keep up until after the holidays.

One of my dear friends and her hubby are going to be debt free before this year is out! I am so excited for them, although I can't help but point out that they make well into the 6 figures. Still, they've been working hard and it shows.

I have done our household budget into August 2009. S and I will not be totally debt free until early to mid 2010. But come August we'll be sitting a hell of a lot prettier than we are now, thanks to my personal finance strategies. (Patting myself big-time on the back.)

The Holidays Are Coming

2008-11-18T09:23:00.001-08:00

I bought my 1st 3 Xmas gifts today: 1 for Mudflap, 1 for S, and 1 for me! They were bought online, so no tax and no gas money spent going shopping. This year our holiday budget is once again completely part of our household budget, meaning nothing will be bought on credit and once the holidays are over, we are completely DONE for the year with no loose ends to wrap up on anything.

I have to say something about these lower gas prices: they have completely saved our ass. I paid $1.79 for gas today in Pasadena. I have been able to lower our weekly gas budget by 50% and again, being able to do so has allowed us to not worry about the holidays as well as keep a regular schedule with our marriage counselor, since my FSA was all spent up in October. Now any medical expenses beyond that are just having to be paid "full price" for, unfortunately.

HOWEVER--I have only lowered our weekly gas budget through December b/c I fear that once the holidays get closer, gas prices will shoot back up. If this does not happen, then we will be sitting even more pretty as the New Year starts, which we will also need b/c I got our property tax bill last week and come its due date of Jan. 31, we will be a couple of hundred bucks short so any gains we make in December will only go to help our property tax situation. And if gas prices do shoot back up like I'm fearing they might, then it's in the budget and planned for.

Money and Mental Health

2008-10-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is actually a positive post about the effects money has on your mental health. It is so true on so many different levels that money does not buy happiness, etc. etc. But not having to worry so much about money lately has really relieved a lot of stress in my life. 2 Fridays ago when traffic was backed up so much that I was going to be late to pick up the baby at school, I jumped onto the toll road and, although that cost $3, I didn't worry about it like I used to. And yes, I do think that $3 is a lot of money. But I finally had it to spare.

I will admit that this recent dental cost of $835 has been a big blow, but I did some creative things in order to pay for it. (See below post.) I just cannot have money being one of the things to constantly worry about anymore.

Even today, when I saw that I have lost about $10,000 in one of my retirement accounts. I refuse to worry. There are bear markets and there are bull markets, and I'm 30 years yet away from retirement.

This is what an Emergency Fund is for

2008-10-23T08:30:00.001-07:00

I just had gum surgery, which cost $835 freakin' dollars.

Although I am terrified to touch our EF, which according to the Dave Ramsey plan is "only" $1,000 anyway, I am going to take $100 out of the EF to pay for this surgery. The remaining funds used to pay for the remainder are:

$100--reduced Mastercard payment
$100--reduced Discover card payment
$100--borrow from Ma
$200--take from other savings account which was created by a 0% credit card advance
$235--covered by funds from regular budget

And now, I have completely spent my annual FSA, which was only $1,500 and the maximum allowed contribution by my work. And it's only October. Still, I hope those $1,500 pre-tax dollars make a difference come April 15.

Another Decision Made

2008-10-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have decided that, on top of all our other stressors in life (S's ongoing career/job search, still dealing with the aftermath of the custody battle) that if I can ease up on at least the financial stresses that will do us a world of good. I have decided that instead of putting $1,000 towards the credit cards each month, I will ease up and aim for a ballpark of more like $800-900, thereby freeing up some funds so I don't feel so panicked when we want to do something nice like have a romantic dinner out together. Or buy some new clothes. Or go see a movie that's not a matinee. B/c right now we almost NEVER do those things, and it's reflecting on our marriage.

I appreciate Dave Ramsey's "gazelle-intense" approach to paying down debt, but most of the folks he counsels have done stupid stuff with their money. All we did was try to win a custody battle so the baby could have a much better life with us. And we don't need to add insult to injury upon ourselves by struggling so much with $. Finally, I was smart enough to get most of the remaining debt--$11K out of $20K remaining--at fixed low-interest, at APR's of 6.99 and 4.99%. And the rest is currently at 1.9-0%, yes to expire next year but I'll deal with it at that time, now now. So I need to quit beating up on myself and making our lives miserable.

Ouch.

2008-09-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

One of my retirement accounts has gone down over $1,300 thanks to the latest economic FUBAR. Fortunately, I am far away from retirement and there's no need to panic. And today I am glad beyond words that the bullshit bailout has been defeated.

Our Govt. is Full of Pinheads and Assholes

2008-09-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

As soon as I can, I'm giving some $ to the Libertarian Party.

Skittish

2008-09-04T14:44:00.001-07:00

I'm skittish even though S is now working. I'm skittish b/c his latest job is still up in the air for some reasons and we are still waiting to see where he will land on a more permanent basis. Even though I should pay off 1 of my CC's I want to hold onto my extra savings b/c I'm just so skittish! I've got an extra $1,000 I could and should apply to debt repayment, but I just can't make the move yet until I know more about what's going to happen to us, financially-speaking.

Raises

2008-08-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

So a couple of months ago I asked Job #1 for a 10% raise. I had a page-long document with evidence outlining why I deserve such a raise including attachments such as unsolicited emails from clients saying how amazing I was. They came back with a 5% raise. We get a 3% raise automatically every Sept. 1. At first I was a little put out b/c really all they gave me was an additional 2% raise and then they're also making me wait until Sept. 1 to get it. I'm still a little put out but it's ok... for now.

Then last night I was at Job #2 and we got paid yesterday so my paycheck was in my box. The amount seemed a little high, and upon closer inspection I saw that my hourly rate had gone up and no one had even told me. Calculations revealed that I got an 8% raise!!! Oh... nice. And MUCH needed since S still has not been hired anywhere yet.

Definitely Stressed

2008-07-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

I redid the budget today, again pushing back a possible date that S starts to bring home a paycheck. I am supposedly getting a 5% raise, as opposed to our annual 3% raise b/c I raised a fuss about getting a better raise this year, starting Sept. 1 and I wanted to use it to open a Roth IRA but now that doesn't look like it's going to happen then after all. Right now there are so many variables to guess at that it's hard to do any real financial planning.

IF S gets hired in August by one of the agencies he's already interviewed at, then we will be sitting pretty.
But if he doesn't get hired, then IF he starts the process to join our Reserves and takes the test on Aug. 9, it could take him a couple of months to get fully hired on, so we'll be sitting pretty in... late September? October? Possibly November? Jesus, that's a long time.
And IF he still is not working anywhere in September, I am going to be withdrawing all kinds of money from savings and I'm so scared to do that. It might be better just to quit over-contributing to the CC payments temporarily, but that hurts me psychologically. Which is the worst pain?

I Had a Revelation

2008-06-18T15:40:00.001-07:00

...from reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It is this:

The Poor acquire liabilities.
The Rich acquire assets.

Think about this. If you get it, it should blow your mind.

I've also come to believe with every fiber of my being the following statement:

It doesn't matter how much money you make. It matters how much money you keep.

$2300 "Saved"

2008-06-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

So we only paid $1700 for the plain white wrapper, leaving us $2300 from our budget of $4K. I can actually breathe a little easier now. With the leftover funds we'll take care of some essential and even a couple of fun things on the car that need taking care of. A huge chunk of the rest will go to the Visa card, whose 1.9% APR is expiring this month so that's timely indeed. And then we still have some funds leftover to play with, which is why I'm breathing a little easier--things are not so tight right now and it hasn't been that way in a long, long time. We also got our stimulus check last night, right on time just as the KGB I mean IRS promised, and a big bulk of that's going to the Visa card as well. The rest will go into savings so we are firmly back to Step 2 of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, where we'll remain for the next 1 1/2-2 years. But at least it's all on low, low interest!!!

Plan For Getting A New (Used) Car ASAP

2008-06-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

The only thing within my power is to do the following: use one of the checks from my Discover card with a promotional APR of 1.9% until April 2009 (and initial 3% fee) to do so. I've told S we can do not a penny over $4000 for a used car. That will make my monthly payments around $150, perhaps a little more or less. By April 2009 S should definitely have a job!!! By then the whole amount should be close to paid off, even with the other credit card charges, which are as follows:

DISCLAIMER/REMINDER: Roughly 99.9% of the below charges are LEGAL FEES due to the custody battle.

Visa #1: $3300 @ 1.9% APR until June 23, 2008. I am going to fork over as much extra as possible this month (IRS Stimulus, Summer Job $, assorted extras) and when the APR expires on this month the balance should be closer to a nicer $500-600.

Visa #2: $4500 @ 0% APR until May 2009. Paying the minimum on this b/c, once again, S should definitely be employed by the time this promotional APR runs out.

Visa #3: $5360 @ 0% APR until September 2008. Some of the funds from Visa #2 will be used to pay a bunch on this account in September. Right now the funds are in an ING online savings account earning interest until then.

MasterCard: $8300 @ 6.9% APR until the balance is paid off. That's about the best deal you can get, even better than some banks will loan at.

So a Discover Card check charge will be, including the 3% fee, $4120. Although actually, I'm going to have to do closer to $5500, bringing the new Discover Card balance to $5665. This is b/c there are even more legal fees coming up, including mediation, additional payments to our lawyer, and a payment to the amicus attorney. Once again, 1.9% APR until 4/09 is about the best deal I'm gonna get.

The other night I said to someone that the custody battle is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Financially AND otherwise, that is the God-honest truth.

Vacation All Paid For

2008-05-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

S and I were in South Padre last Thursday-Sunday and the whole thing was paid for in cash. It was a nice feeling to come back home and not have to think about the credit card bills piling up in a month or so!

One lesson learned though, when bidding on Priceline, bid the lowest, most insulting offer you can think of. My boss here at Job #2 just told me when he went there last year they paid $39 for a $200 hotel room. I paid way too much for our room at the Travelodge!

Next time we go down there, I fully expect for our financial situation to be so excellent that we can afford to rent a jet ski and even parasail!

Money Saving Tips of the Week

2008-05-01T15:42:00.001-07:00

Sign up for all birthday clubs at your favorite restaurants. They send great b-day coupons!

Split cotton balls in 2. (Buy the big ones.)

Water down liquid soap, shampoo, conditioner. It all still works great.

Get as many free meals as you can at work. For example, I've gotten 2 free lunches already this week and I'll get fed all day Sat. at the HHC Board retreat.

Buy coupon books from charitable organizations. Then you get coupons for all kinds of good stuff (I mostly use the restaurant/food ones) and you get a tax write-off.

Work an extra job in the evening instead of watching TV.

When I Have $, I'm Giving It Away

2008-04-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

Seriously, one of the things I fantasize about when we are out of debt and have $ is who I'm going to give my money to. My high school-HSPVA, my college-UNT, reputable charities, artists, and poor musicians!!! I was so sad that this past weekend I did not have any $ to buy a CD from the Carolina Chocolate Drops at I-fest. I was so tempted, but I had only budgeted $20 for the day for me and the baby to spend there, and we needed drinks in order to stay hydrated. I also let her ride 2 rides b/c that was my thanking her for sticking it out with me at a long I-fest day. And that took care of all the $ for the day.

But someday we will have lots of money b/c we're sticking to my plan and my budget and like Dave Ramsey says, right now we are living like no one else (i.e., not spending money for every little want) so someday we can live like no one else (i.e., b/c of our discipline now we will someday have the money to spend on every little want!).

Sometimes, If You Charge More, They Will Pay

2008-04-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

This summer I upped my price for my Teen Skin Care Classes at the public libraries from last year's $75 per class to this year's $80 per class. I figured I'd get booked for slightly less classes but still earn around the same amount of $. Less work, same pay, right? WRONG. This summer I am booked for more classes than ever: a whopping 13. Damn! So although I'm going to be busier than ever this summer I am going to earn more than ever. An extra $1,040 definitely will help, especially this summer since we aren't sure when S will get a job. I can continue to support the household until he does, but I'd like it to be sooner than later b/c I want to get my retirement contributions back on track.

PO'd at Comcast and Vince McMahon

2008-04-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

Damn! Wrestlemania cost $63 fuckin' dollars last night! S's buddies who said they'd be over to watch and incidentally, chip in for the cost didn't show. So it was just him and me watching it. S swears he will not order anymore PPV's unless people are guaranteed to show up and help out with the cost. I said that was all up to him. None of my friends are into wrestling at all.

$1400 made from Craigslist

2008-03-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

I have made close to $1400 from selling items on Craigslist and will make another $10 tonight or tomorrow selling a huge bag of lincoln logs the baby does not want to play with anymore. Well, $750 of that total was my faithful gun Woodrow, but still. That's a good amount of $ made in the past 2 years selling shit around the house.

Thank God I'm a LEO

2008-03-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

A local tax preparer is doing all returns for cops for only $39. S said we needed a pro to look at our return since my TurboTax draft said we owe the KGB I mean IRS over $2600!!! We went this past Saturday and he managed to knock it down to $2200 and change. His fee is $175 but again we paid him only $39. Lots of $ saved there, all b/c I'm a cop. Wow.

Now, time to change my W-4. Stat!

The Roth IRA

2008-03-06T13:18:00.001-08:00

I've gotta open up one of these things...and so should you! Once S graduates in May and gets his job, we are both going to open up Roth's. I am going to leave my retirement contribution low at Job #1--say at around the 3% level--and contribute the rest to a Roth. Learn about it. Know it. Do it. Love it!

I Think I'm Gonna Be Sick

2008-02-25T14:53:00.001-08:00

I did the first draft of our taxes. It appears that we are going to owe over $2,600. I can't fucking believe it. Last year we only owed $700 and change. We worked our asses off last year and made a lot more $ so I guess that's what the difference is, no matter that I contributed a ton more to my retirement and we paid property taxes and we had lots of mortgage interest that was all deductible. Incredible. Almost makes me want to vote Republican (lower taxes, less government). I want to puke.

10% Off at Target

2008-02-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

With our Target Red card we get a 10% off shopping spree every time we charge $1,000. This has happened twice in the year+ we've had the card. The trick, you see, is to PAY OFF the card after you make a charge so you do not incur finance charges. I am always careful to do exactly that. Only then is this a halfway good deal.

Big Bucks

2008-02-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

S and I have finally received all our W4's. Together we both made a lot of $ last year, or at least what in my opinion is a lot of $. I certainly made more than I've ever made due to all my jobs! Once S graduates from the police academy in May and gets a good-paying job, we should really be sitting pretty, even with all the custody battle debt. When I get down about $ I just have to try and remember that.

Found Money

2008-01-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

I recently came into some money through a most fortuitous way. You could say a relative gave me an advance on my inheritance! Anyway, this is so wonderful and so timely. S and I can breathe a little easier now. Half of it I'm putting away for next year's property taxes. Another portion is going into savings, natch. Another portion will go to a credit card, and finally I have a little bit left over to do something fun with. Because you have to have balance in life!

Credit Card Limits

2008-01-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

Oh, the irony. The more credit I use, the more they give me. I currently have 5 CC's and the only reason I have that many is b/c of the custody battle. BCB (before custody battle) I only had ONE CC! Anyway, once I started charging a bunch of lawyer's fees to my one CC--b/c S and I had no other earthly way to pay for them--CC offers started popping up left and right. My bank didn't even ask me if I wanted a CC, they just opened the account and sent me a card one day! That pissed me off at first, but then I realized it could come in handy on occasion.

So once I had these 5 CC's established, I believe my total credit limit on all 5 was in the neighborhood of about $22,000. Over the past year and half, the credit limits keep creeping up and up and now I have a whopping total credit limit of about $59,000!!! (Of which I am currently using only $18,100! So this also helps my FICO score, but who cares.) Damn! No wonder people get in trouble with these CC's! They see you spending and want you to continue to spend. No, they encourage you to spend. It makes them money hand over fist collecting interest charges. Duh!

The only good thing about having these 5 CC's is that each of them is constantly vying for my attention and my business. So they send me these great balance transfer offers and these checks I can write for nice low APR percentages and I have used those to make the high cost of the custody battle as painless as is humanly possible. Most of the custody battle costs are being paid off at low rates of anywhere from 0% to 5.99%, so that's the best deal I could strategize with our limited resources and options.

Cash Only

2008-01-03T15:23:00.001-08:00

We are trying to live cash-only. I had to confiscate S's debit card from him b/c he is just too careless with it. He just doesn't think, so it's just safer for him not to have it and he agrees. We each get $40 per week for our allowance, which includes lunch money. We've also allotted $50 per week for household "miscellaneous" which includes entertainment and misc. expenses. This week S went through his $40 in 3 days: too much Starbucks! I still have $30 left from mine and it's already time for the new allowance tomorrow!!! That's b/c I eat at home. I wonder if S is just hopeless when it comes to budgeting. I tell you what, if he wants a bigger allowance he better make more $. But he will, once he finished his schooling in May and gets a real job with a real paycheck with real benefits. Lord, I cannot wait.

Holiday Spending

2007-12-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

We kept holiday spending down even more this year than last. That means that we did not get to get each other anything even remotely costly or frivelous, but I don't really want a whole bunch of more crap anyway. My mind is just not on "things" these days. I am over materialism. I guess when you become a domesticated responsible household head your priorities completely change. Stuff's not important anymore. Your future and the people you want to be in it are.

I re-did the household budget so that S can totally quit his job in January. I decided I don't even want him to work part-time. It's tight but with temporarily reducing my retirement contribution, picking up the maximum hours at Job #2, and saving on gas and entertainment expenses, we can do it. And we're supposed to go to trial in February anyway so after trial we'll be getting child support from the whore and then finances will really be gravy!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Weeks Until...

2007-12-14T12:17:00.001-08:00

S gets to go part/time at his current job. This is b/c I want him concentrating on the police academy. In order to do this, I am going to take Dave Ramsey's advice and TEMPORARILY reduce my retirement contributions at work. I'm currently putting away 9%. For the 5 months S is in the academy I think I'll go down to either 2 or 3%--I don't want to entirely cut it out b/c I simply can't stomach the thought. But that's the best plan we can think of.

Good X-mas Shopping Idea for the Baby

2007-11-25T13:29:00.000-08:00

While at the Chirren's Museum on Friday, we stopped, as always, into the gift shop. They had a lot of great little gifts in the $1, $3, etc. price range. Educational, interesting stuff. So I think that's where we'll do the bulk of X-mas shopping for the baby. The budget for her gifts this year is quite low, even lower than last year. Hey, I'm spending $30K on a custody battle for her, so that's the best gift she could ever ask for in her entire life. SERIOUSLY.

I Can't Wait to Shop At...

2007-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

...10,000 Villages! My fellow board member is having a fundraising night there where the store is giving her non-profit org. a percentage of the sales. I bought X-mas presents there last year for my aunt, cousin, and girlfriend. While I was there I lusted after the jewelry sets, but bought none b/c I couldn't afford it. This year I can probably afford to buy myself a couple of sets. I waited a whole year so it's time! The shopping night is Dec. 10. Ohhh, I can't wait. And this is shopping for a good cause at its best!

X-mas

2007-11-21T13:46:00.001-08:00

So our X-mas budget is tighter than ever this year. This is b/c we are saving, saving, saving $ in preparation for S to go to school full-time in January. I have some creative ideas for gift-giving this year fo' sho'. S said he just wants 5 cards from me that will let him out of any future arguments we have! I'm hesitant b/c what if there are true issues that we need to discuss? He can just cash in one of his cards to shut me up! This needs further thought, I would say!

Interest Earned at ING, Emigrant

2007-11-07T10:28:00.001-08:00

I am serious. I can't believe how fast the interest earned at the online savings banks is getting racked up. I put $1000 into an account over at Emigrant a month ago and it's already earned over $3. I'm telling you, that's way better than any bank's savings account rate!

$100 Saved

2007-10-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

I hate lawyers. I found a $100 error on the bill we got from the amicus atty. He says he came to do an in-home visit with us back in November. NOT! I called his office and called them on their bullshit and they reduced the bill by $200. God, you really have to be vigilant in this day and age so people don't fuck with you and take your hard-earned money.

SOLD! On ING and Emigrant Direct

2007-10-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have accounts at both of these places, and I only started them last month. I'm sold! The interest you earn on them is so much more than the local bank!!! Whatta deal. I've put S's school fund over there, 1/2 of our property taxes fund, and some of the EF. Next I'll start funds for: a future vacation, income taxes, and a future laptop computer.

F*** the CC's

2007-09-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

I have had it with fretting about these stupid things. S is going to be starting the police academy in January. So I need to save as much $$$ as possible so that we are not living on Ramen for 5 months until he finishes in May and gets a good job. So F*** the CC's. They'll get paid minimally and that's FINE. Dave Ramsey, as well-intentioned as he is, has brainwashed me a little to the extreme, so much so that I can't even enjoy life at all sometimes. The CC's will get paid in good time and I don't give a shit b/c fortunately the interest rates are low and the custody battle needs to get fought and won! And meanwhile, I need to stop being so damn neurotic about it all b/c my life is truly suffering sometimes. I've got good retirement contributions and low CC interest rates. So there.

When, not if, We Have The Dough

2007-09-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

A miscellaneous "I'd like to..." wants list:

Buy some jewelry. A ruby ring, an emerald ring, pearl sets. Nothing offensive, just some nice new tasteful jewelry.
Replace the blue carpeting in our entire upstairs. Since S hates bare floors in bedrooms, replace it with a nice Berber.
Re-surface the floor in the upstairs bathroom with ? Some kind of nice tile.
Re-paint the master bedroom. That olive green has got to go!
Install a hot tub out on the patio. (S's idea.)
Get a new gun for patrol duty. Not that Esteban isn't a good reliable one, but he's so used and looks it. I want a newer, nicer, pretty version of Esteban.
Tint the windows of my car, Blue Lou.
Go on a nice vacation or possibly a cruise with S.
Buy a laptop w/Internet.
Get us each an IPOD (I guess, is that still the near-future of listening to music?)
Get a new queen-size bed and mattress. (Right now we sleep on just a double which can be a little tight for 6'3" S, but I think King's are too big. Queen size is just right!)

Budget Redo

2007-09-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

I sent in the paperwork to have my retirement contribution upped another .02%. But I'm not starting it until the end of this month so I can have 2 good higher paychecks now that we got our annual .03% raise to put towards CC's and savings. So I spent a good amount of the day redoing the budget.

Also, I have decided that somehow we are going to have to send S to get some schooling. I just don't think he'll get a decent career without some college hours. He can't even join a local police dept. as a cadet in the academy until he has at least 60 college hours. And he probably won't get any financial aid other than loans b/c of my salary, so I opened up an Emigrant.com account today that will serve as the S education fund. In order to fund this I have cut in half the payments to one of our CC's--but it's a CC that has 0% interest until Sept. 2008. I figure by that time S will be out of school and employed with a higher salary so we can tackle that CC by then with full gusto!

So the savings accounts we have now are:

Regular savings account for the EF
My credit union savings account for property taxes
S's credit union savings account for his car fund
Emigrant savings account for DH's education fund

I hope to be able to send him to school in January. That would be kick-ass!

COLA Raise yesterday

2007-09-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Every Sept. 1 we get a .03% cost of living raise at Job #1 (I doubt I'll get such a perk at Job #2!). Last year I took advantage of the extra $ to raise my retirement contribution. Now I will raise it again, but I'm not quite sure when exactly to do it or how many more percentage points to raise it up to. Basically I'm trying to decide if I should raise it another .02% or .03%. Also, I'm debating raising it next week, or waiting 1 pay period to do it.

I like the idea of raising it another .03% for lots of good reasons.

More retirement $ for me!
Lower taxes paid to Uncle Sam!
repeat the above ad nauseum as it is a wonderful, win-win situation for me.

However, lord knows if I only raised it another .02% I'd have some extra $ to apply towards our court case debts. Although, would I really have that much more $ b/c my tax bill would also not be as low? Plus, if my paycheck changes significantly lower I'll have to redo my entire budget.

What I will probably do is raise it another .02% and wait to do it until the middle of the month. That is b/c I would enjoy 1 big paycheck which I will use to make a big payment to one of my CC's. Psychologically, it will be good for me.

Chocolate Milk went up a whopping .50 cents!

2007-08-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

What is the deal?! Yogurt already went up .02 cents, and now chocolate milk is up .50! So I didn't buy any the other night. Nestle's chocolate milk was already a deal at our local HEB and was always $2.99, whereas it was usually $3.19 or more at Kroger. But now that it's at $3.49 at the HEB I don't know that we need it anymore. By not buying it I have to send a message to the grocers, or the distributors, or whoever the message needs to be sent to that there is no call for choc. milk to go up by that much, that fast.

Pretty Good Week Financially Speaking

2007-08-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

I got 2 fabulous dresses for the wedding next week for a STEAL with double discounts and coupons; got free dinner on Thursday night at work; S's paycheck was outstanding thanks to his hard work; and today he is at Comedy Defensive Driving which will help our monthly household budget once that additional car insurance discount kicks in.

I'm also checking out a different p/t job that is slightly more $ but is located a LOT closer to the house. As an added bonus, apparently you can set your own hours! This would be so wonderful if it works out, as now I'd be able to plan my work weekends around when we have the baby.

I'm thinking about getting one of those Brita filters for my house and for little brother's. He needs to stop spending $ on buying water from the grocery store. Oh my God, I cannot imagine much more of a waste of $. But I hear the Brita makes your water taste better, and I can buy some with my many coupons and credit-card rebate gift card that I have at Bed Bath and Beyond. For the record, I have always always always drank tap water and I see no problem with it.

If it ain't one thing it's another

2007-08-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Well, S called me to tell me that he needs 2 new tires if his vehicle is to pass inspection. Wonderful. I said he could get them once his job fixes their payroll screw-up from yesterday and pays him the rest of the $ they owe him!

I went to the cheap school-uniform store at lunch to buy the baby a few school clothes. I thought the $1.99 tops were way-cheap looking and almost threadbare! So I sprung for the $3.99 tops. I may be frugal but I'm not cheap!

Fighting for our money

2007-08-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

We are currently trying to get our $ back from those who owe us!!! S's paycheck today was much smaller than he'd anticipated, and when research was done we found out that his job screwed up and owe him. So today he's fighting with them to get the rest of his $.

Also, I'm still trying to get my discount at State Farm, those incompetents. I have made 2 phone calls. Satisfaction WILL be mine!

More defensive driving

2007-08-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

I signed S up for defensive driving at the Laff Spot so our car insurance will go down some more! Meanwhile, I had to call our insurance co. b/c they still have not given me my rightful discount! Incompetents. Still, once these discounts kick in they will really help with the monthly budget.

$7 in the checking account

2007-08-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

...and fighting with S about $$$. I confiscated his debit card last night, also his gas card. He is going to go to a CASH ONLY system from now on. I hate to do it to him, but he leaves me no choice since he is uninterested in details and minutiae of the household budget, even though it is posted on the fridge. Let's see how he likes budgeting since now he will be forced to budget his cash week by week.

Car and Money Woes

2007-07-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

S says that God will provide, and I guess that's true but man, times is hard. Another $365 gone to car repairs today and the problem apparently still isn't fixed. I gotta send our lawyer a check tomorrow for $245 in preparation for our hearing on Aug. 27th, and on Friday she needs another $2500. Thursday the baby will get $600+ of dental work. Still, Friday we will get S's first full check from his new job, but until then I have no idea how to budget b/c we don't know how much it'll be since his assembler job is commission-based.

Since things are so bleak right now, I actually did spend a little $ to cheer us all up. I got some things for a pretty good deal on Amazon.com. A couple of CD's I just had to have, a CD for the baby, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Vol.'s 1-3 for me and S. I'm paying for these with my salary from Job #2 so I do not touch the main household budget.

Our babysitter is having major car troubles too, and that bums me out as well. If only we had 2 extra vehicles lying around, one for her and one for S.

Vending Machines are for Chumps

2007-07-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Seriously, if you ever use a vending machine, you are a dolt. The markups in those things are like, 50-75% at least! I've noticed at my jobs that the ones using them are frequently the low-paid non-professionals. Coincidence that they're low-paid? I think not. Anyway, I did use a vending machine today for the 1st time in years. Normally I just buy all kinds of snacks and sodas to keep at home so S will have what he needs on hand at all times and never be tempted by the vending machines. (I'm not, never have been, and never will be a snacker, like he and the baby are.) But today S and the baby were here at my Job #2 in the back where the vending machines are, and the baby wanted some animal crackers. I happened to have .50 cents in my pocket and figured, what the hell, so I got 'em. I was in the mood for animal crackers anyway!

A Whole Bunch of Job Applications

2007-07-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

So I got responses from 2 places I sent resumes out to. They want me to take the next step and fill out their online applications. And I have an interview on Monday for a p/t job that pays $28/hour! Here is the comparison with my current p/t job:

Current p/t job:

$18+/hour, 32 hours/month
Tuesday night, 5-9
Every other Saturday, 8-5
Leave Job #1 at 4:15-ish to make it here by 5 on Tuesdays

Other p/t job:

$28/hour, 30 hours/month
Tuesday AND Thursday night, 5-9
Every other Sat., only from 10-1
Leave Job #1 at 4pm on the dot to make it there by 5 on Tues. and Thurs.
Would have to buy EZ-Tag for use on the Beltway, but that would be paid for and then some with the new salary!

So there's a lot more to consider with the other p/t job. Meanwhile, I am currently not as pissed off at Job #1 as I have been so I'm not sure I want to leave just yet. And if I get called for some of these interviews I'll have to prepare a razzle/dazzle 'em presentation and I am sooooo tired these days... Still, there is one job where the salary is so good I wouldn't even need a p/t job at all anymore! Lots to consider these days.

It only took 2 weeks, but...

2007-06-25T14:08:00.001-07:00

I finally finished the online defensive driving course! It was a little anticlimactic when I took the final exam. I thought it was going to be hard, but even after a week of not even seeing the material my score was 90%. It probably helps that I'm a cop. And have a brilliant mind! I can't wait to see what kind of $ I'm going to start saving on insurance. Lord knows I need a break these days.

I've decided a good round # to build up the EF to would be $3,000. Then I might begin to relax a little. S started his new job today; that really should be a significant amount of extra funds. Of course, it's gonna be tight here for about 3 weeks until he gets his 1st paycheck. But the money from the skin care classes I teach should start to roll in slowly. I've already decided that 1/2 is going to savings and the other 1/2 is going to CC bills. Initially I'd wanted 100% to go to savings, but I am obsessed with getting the CC totals down to 4 digits again, even if only temporarily.

Yet Another CC

2007-06-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

So I applied for and got yet another CC, this one a Disney Visa with the Little Mermaid on it. Of course they want to give me more CC's, I charge and pay a lot of $ on the ones I've got already! Everybody wants a piece of me! So as much as I hated to do it, I got another one b/c the 0% interest rates are going to be expiring soon on 2 of my 4 CC's and we've got lots more legal bills to come. So if I have to use CC's to finance this court battle, then at least I can do as much as possible on 0% interest for a year.

S and I had a long conversation today about our financial future. I am still trying to get him on the same page as I, philosophically speaking. For example, last night we drove through Taco Cabinet, and instead of getting the $4.99 nachos, he got the $3.99 nachos. Then he wanted a Coke. I pointed out that we had Coke at home (which I buy at the grocery store so he won't waste money on ripoff vending machines) and he said he liked TC's ice and that he was already saving $1 by not ordering the other nachos! I retorted, as long as we're saving $1, let's save $2!!! We argued for a minute but of course, I won. I had to remind him today that both of us are sacrificing and we need to continue sacrificing until our debt is paid off.

BTW, I did another spreadsheet to see when that might be. According to my calculations and best estimate, provided we get custody of the baby and the whore starts paying us $350/month child support here very soon, we should have our CC's/custody battle paid off totally by Jan. 2009, possibly even Dec. 2008. I reminded S that will happen ONLY if we continue to sacrifice and live the lifestyle we are living currently: no extravaganzes, no vacations, clipping coupons, etc.

Probable upswing on the money front

2007-06-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

So S says he is starting this new job in 2 Mondays. This right after he got a raise at his current job! But he says this allowed him to negotiate a match, so he will definitely be making more $ no matter what. I am so happy about this but I am also so tired of this S-job saga I am too exhausted to really feel very happy. If that makes any sense.

He's been working real hard lately, and his check yesterday was about $300 more than we thought it would be, even with missing all this work due to court. Plus I made an extra $100 this week from the 2 skin care classes at the public Library. I want to keep the CC bills as low as possible and keep chipping away at them--we don't use them at all anymore except for legal bills. But I am also scared of our EF not being enough, so I think I'll split 1/2 of all extra $ into CC's and the EF.

Exhibit 1: Why I won't be selling plasma again

2007-06-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

No matter how desperate I get. I'd rather take 10 years to pay off the CC's than go through that again.

10% off your auto insurance

2007-06-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm currently taking an online defensive driving course in the attempt to save 10% on my auto insurance. It's sloooooowww going and the website will not let you do anything else, like try to surf anywhere while you're waiting for the page to finish at its own pace. Also, it keeps testing you to verify that you are who you say you are! My expectation is that I'll be done sometime next week. But even though the class is $40 it should save me a couple of hundred dollars over the next couple of years! Worth it!

Even I have my standards

2007-06-07T10:53:00.001-07:00

So I went shopping at Ross last night to look for new leather pumps for work. Man, that place is chaotic! I did find a cute skirt for work and a great t-shirt for the baby (it reads "Daddy's Girl" over and over) at good prices, but when I got to the shoe section, holy moly. There was no way in hell I was about to spend a shitload of my precious time going through that mess. See, places like Ross and Marshalls are frequented by people looking for a deal, like poor people and frugal penny-pinchers like myself. In order to find these deals they dig and dig and mess the whole system up. Keeping clothes and shoes in size order or even correct section is a joke and losing battle there. So I took one glance at the FUBAR shoe section and said, "I'm outta here" and went to JC Penney, where I found my shoes in a peaceful and non-chaotic setting.

Then I went next door to Target to get necessary household items with my $25 gift card. I spent $24.92. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me with a Target gift card, where I am left with literally cents left on it! You better believe I'm gonna use that 8 cents next time, too!

The magazine buyer guy got me down to $30 for both magazines. He says he'll meet me tonight to make the buy. It's still a good deal for both me and him.

Finally, I have decided to go sell plasma. I found a place not too terribly far from the house and they're open on Saturday. I'll make $30 which is good money, in my book! I hope to go a couple of times a month, but we'll see.

$1 off? You bet!

2007-06-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

After an hour debating with myself whether or not to take the car out to lunch today b/c it's good for my mental health although bad for the pocketbook, I finally decided to do the responsible thing and just walk across the street to the hospital for lunch, even though I'm getting tired of the food over there. I was rewarded by being asked to do a cafeteria survey and get $1 off my lunch! Good decision on my part!

I'm only gonna make an extra $500 this summer with the skin care classes I teach at the public library. I guess that's ok even though one summer I made over $700. It will ALL go into the savings, or EF, account. None of it will go towards paying extra on the CC's b/c I've got those at a low interest rate for now and with S being so iffy about his next job these days, I surely don't want to starve.

Money strategizing

2007-06-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

There's going to be a lot of it going on in the next few weeks due to S starting a new job this Thursday--and he says he still hasn't decided if he's going into new car sales or used car sales. He says he may not get his first paycheck for a month. The good news is I've done a few things to give us a cushion so we don't starve to death or have to touch the EF, which I do NOT want to do, especially after having to cut into it a little for S's dental work last week.

One of our friends gave me a $20 bill for the baby at her b-day party on Sunday. You think she's getting it? Ha! She already got $10 from my mom and aunt/cousin and that's plenty for her. Especially when you consider all the $ we're already spending on her in terms of the court case. Sorry to be so blunt but I need that $20 more than she does right now. It'll go to buy groceries for the household, which includes her.
I got a guy interested in buying those 2 gun magazines for $40. That'll be more $ for household expenses. I managed to get the posting re-posted on craigslist by being a little more vague on the title.
I got a $25 Target card from one of my rewards credit cards. Will come in very handy right now for household items.

The bad news is I do have to go buy a new pair of shoes which I'll do tomorrow while S is at the Weird Al Yankovic concert (free ticket from his friend, who's also going). Ross, here I come! I hope they have good quality leather shoes there. Plus S has to get some pants altered for starting his new job. No more jeans for him, it'll be slacks and ties now.

I actually am starting to consider selling plasma. I did it once in college. I don't mind the experience at all, I just don't want to be around a bunch of seedy types.

Damn, I need new shoes AND tires

2007-06-04T10:24:00.001-07:00

I have broken 2 pairs of shoes in one week. 1 pair was just an inexpensive pair of sandals that I'm sure I got from Payless years ago since that is where I buy all my sandals. The other pair was a pair of black, velvet flats that I've had for YEARS. I will wait to replace the sandals--after all, I've got plenty of other Payless sandals to wear--but I do need to buy another pair of leather black pumps for work. I gotta do it soon b/c I want to wear them to court next week, too.

Today S is supposed to be buying me 2 new tires. NTB wanted to sell me some for $125 and S says he got Discount Tires to beat their price, at $100 and change. This is a bad time for us to be buying tires, but I suppose I do need them.

I can't believe that S and I spend all of our FSA funds already and it's only mid-year. S just had more maladies that needed to be treated than I thought! Next year I will definitely max out that FSA account so we can get even more of a tax break.

I'm just glad gas prices are down a tiny bit. As much as I'm getting tired of walking to the hospital to get lunch these days, I'd rather do that than fire up the car and waste gas driving somewhere nearby. It would be better if I could brown-bag it more often but since I'm so exhausted these days and am having such a hard time waking up in the a.m. I just can't deal with making lunch. I always eat dinner home if I have lunch out anyway so it evens out for me.

Craigslist is getting on my nerves

2007-06-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

They keep pulling off my gun stuff I'm trying to sell. I'm trying to sell 2 magazines for $40 and that's not even on their list of prohibited items and they still pulled it! Jerks. I'm going to repost it on Monday.

I did, however, make $30 selling my old Cingular cell phone last night. Thank goodness, b/c we need all kinds of extra $ right now so that $30 came just in the nick of time. It will pay for the baby's b-day cake for her party tomorrow at least with change left over.

In other news, I'm a little excited to see that I started a good thread on the msn.money message board. I wanted to know where other people in their 30's are when it comes to retirement. I just bluntly asked, how old are you, how much you got saved so far, and how much do you put towards retirement per year? Most of the responses depressed me in the sense that I'm much further behind than other 30-ish yo's. (Of course, I doubt any of them are librarians making librarian salaries.) I was way ahead of a couple of folks though. We all agreed we are all probably in the minority as far as saving. I know several of my friends have almost no retirement and no savings, and seem to only be concerned with buying clothes, cars, toys, etc. Looks like I'm definitely going to have to up my retirement contribution again here in Sept. for sure! I'm at 7% now, and I'm going to bite the bullet and stick it up to 10%. Although it sounds scary, it's for my own good! And it's less for the taxman to take, too!

Depressed about money but still fighting the good fight

2007-05-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

Our legal bills and costs continue to devour us. However, I did make some extra spending cash this weekend by selling 3 boxes of .45 ammo for $25. I managed to get 3 inquiries before craigslist pulled my posting (who knew ammo was a prohibited sale item?) and this one guy came and picked it up on Saturday, which was awesome. I also found white drapes for the house (we got in trouble with the HOA for our blue drapes, which have been up for almost a year) from this lady found on craigslist, and she sold me 5 white drapes for an incredible $8!!! Awesome!!!

The baby's b-day is tomorrow and her party at Chuck E. Cheese is on Sunday. S and I need to go get her a few presents. Target was his suggestion and I said ok, but that we can only afford to get her like 3-4 things and that is it. I do need to find her a cute little wallet though, b/c I told her that once she turned 5 we were going to give her an allowance. I want to teach her about money and I don't want to hear anymore "I want, I want." From now on my response will be, "Oh, you do, huh? Where's your money? Better start saving!!!" She'll get $5 every 2 weeks, or $10/month. $1 will go to the church, $3 will go to savings, and she'll have $6 to spend. I think that's more than fair. I might even up it to $4/savings, $5/spend.

Can't believe our electric bill :-)

2007-05-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

But I am definitely not complaining here, I am praising it! $33 and change!!! Not freakin' bad, and very fortunately timely due to S's $400 dental bill today. His so-called mother also sent $100 to him, so I did not have to transfer as much as I thought I'd have to from the EF. Thank the Lord. And we didn't spend too much extra $ this holiday weekend either. Just a couple of meals out and gas expenses and some provisions for the beach, which we can use at our pool all summer too. Hey, they were from Dollar General, so there.

I am going to continue unplugging appliances while we're gone during the day and doing laundry at late hours of the night. It works!

Got paid today--all spent

2007-05-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

I think I might have to cut back on the CC payments next month, to my great disappointment. The strategy always has been to totally ignore the monthly minimum payments and put every spare dime over on them so that we can pay as we go as much as is humanly possible on this custody battle. But with S starting a new job next Thursday I'm worried that we'll go 3 weeks w/out getting his 1st paycheck, as that is usually how it works when you start a new job. So that we don't starve to death (b/c I already am having to tap into the EF in order to pay for his $400+ dental bill he's going to have next week and REFUSE to tap into it anymore!!!) I'm going to pay just a little bit over the CC minimums, instead of hundreds of dollars over like I've been doing. Psychologically, I can't do just the minimums b/c I have a huge mental block about doing that that will make me feel like the biggest loser in the world.

At least I can feel good about keeping the legal bills on only 2 CC's now. I have 4 that I could potentially use but it's so much easier just to keep track of 2 CC's.

Good news re: S's credit score

2007-05-19T08:59:00.001-07:00

I got a disturbing email yesterday saying that a certain building was broken into and some computers were stolen that contained our ID info on them, so to watch out. I pulled my credit report again, which I had already done about a month ago. While I was there I figured I'd pull S's too and see what his score is. Good news for him! His score seems to be going up due to some good accounts he has. The good accounts are b/c of me. I put him on my CC's even before we got married to help him out and it seems to be working. He's still got a ways to go until his score is in the "good" rating, but it definitely could be a lot worse!

Not that I wish to put a lot of weight into credit scores b/c I worship at the altar of Dave Ramsey, who has a zero FICO score b/c he has no debt yet is a millionaire. But we're a ways from being in Dave Ramsey land so until then we have to play this bullshit credit score game.

Buying rims sucks

2007-05-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

S apparently needs new rims on his car b/c the stock ones one there are "bad" and he's gotten 2 mystery flat tires in the past few months. I posted the issue to the msn money boards and got a variety of opinions. S and I even discussed selling his car, Charlie Murphy. But in the end, I think what we'll do is just bite the bullet (there's a lot of biting of bullets going on in my life these days!) and hopefully he can get these rims at Discount Tire for $99 each, or $400. That is really going to cut into our EF though.

I decided to implement an automatic savings system recently of $20 automatically deposited into my savings account every Friday. We'll see how it goes and if I like it. I'm hoping I won't even notice and by the end of the year I'll have another $560 or more in the EF.

These gas prices suck

2007-05-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, there's not too much I can do about my driving habits. I've considered taking the bus to work but I can barely wake up in time to drag my ass in by 9:30 anyway, plus the bus is $2.00 r/t and I'll have more laundry to do due to the sweaty clothes I'll have waiting in the sun. One concession I have made is that I'm walking across the street to the hospital to get lunch more often instead of getting in my car and doing nearby drive-through. Which is what I did today, and was rewarded by running into little brother outside, so we had lunch together.

Oil changes

2007-05-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

I finally got my oil changed today, at over 1,000 miles over. I can't help it man, I drove 700 miles in one weekend last month! I wish there was more I could do to help alleviate these rising gas prices but unfortunately I do a hell of a lot of driving in order to pick up the baby, go to Job #2, take my mom to the Dr., etc. But I digress, as I am wont to do!

I decided to splurge and go to Jiffy Lube, as I found a $5.00 off coupon on their website. I hadn't been there in 23,000 miles (they told me today) b/c I've been going to the grimy corner convenience store/grease monkey mechanics that charge $16.95 for oil changes. But I thought me and my car could use a little splurge, plus JL fills your fluids, checks tire pressure, washes the windows and vacuums, which corner grease monkey does not do. Still, the final price was $27.99. Ouch! Is JL really worth it? I guess... but only every 23,000 miles.

The latest goings-on in my money brain

2007-05-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

My new fave magazine is Money. I began reading it yesterday in a clinic waiting room, and now have a stack here with me at Job #2. I like it b/c it's written in real user-friendly language, although it also seems to be kind of on a low level--maybe that's b/c since Personal Finance and Money Management has become my hobby/obsession I've learned so much in the past year it's hard for me to find new ideas or get exciting new revelations.

One personal revelation I made in the past couple of days is that I do need to open up yet another savings account, in addition to the 2 I already have. When I opened up a 2nd checking account back in December they asked me if I wanted to open a savings account with them and I declined, saying I didn't want to have too many accounts to keep track of. Well, now I think it's best that I open a 3rd savings account. Here's what the plan is:

Account #1 is the EF at my primary bank. I've done what Dave Ramsey suggests and have $1000 over there (actually it's currently $1056) to be left alone, no matter what! (Well, except an emergency, duh.)
Account #2 is at the credit union. This is strictly for property taxes and I deposit a faithful amount over there every single month, no matter what! I over-deposit just a little bit due to property appraisal increases, which did happen to us this year.
So Account #3 would be for the following: since 4 out of 5 responses on the msn money boards told me that to renew our home warranty would be a ripoff and that I should self-insure instead, I would put funds in this account for home repair/maintenance issues. I'm thinking an amount around $500-600 would be good to start with. I've also been thinking we need to put some funds away for "fun" items, like gifts, b-days, vacations, etc. and this would be a good place to hide that stuff too.

See, so Accounts #1 and #2 are sacred, to never be touched. It's time I got an easily-accessible Account #3 for misc. necessary and short-term stuff.

I also need to start putting a regular amount each month (I can do $50, would rather do $100) into S's savings account at the credit union which I opened for him after we got married just so he'd be a member too. I think he's got all of $40 over there! Like I said, it's for membership purposes only! This would be the fund for when we need to buy him a "new" car sometime in the near future. But yeah, we do need to start getting on that now.

All these accounts are just what I need to keep the various EF's and misc. funds separate. I just feel it's too dangerous (for me) to have one big extra fund that holds all the savings. I like categories and classifications; after all, I am a librarian. Every dollar its place and purpose!

Home Warranty: To Renew or Not?

2007-05-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

So we got our Home Warranty renewal in the mail. When we bought the house almost a year ago, it was a gift from the seller. So now we are looking at the prices for 1st time. The renewal fee, for one year, is $425. Plus, every time we use the warranty service, which has been 3 times so far in the past year, we still have to pay a service fee of $60 each time.

S and I discussed it, and we're leaning towards NOT renewing the home warranty. I figure I can put that $425 into savings, and if anything breaks down--washer, dryer, fridge, etc.--we can just buy a used one off of craigslist.

Now that I'm registered on msn money boards, I might pose the question there. They're an opinionated group but I have learned from their own experiences!

Asked another question, got validated

2007-05-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

I suspected I'm doing the absolute best I can, but I posted my situation on the msn boards. (My sitch: possibly as much as $25K in CC debt due to nasty custody battle; working 2 jobs; finished Dave Ramsey's Baby Step 1 but will be stuck for years on Baby Step 2 and need to get to Step 3.) I got a couple of responses that said to keep doing what I'm doing. Also, I was validated in my suspicion that as much as I love Dave, I just cannot follow his plan 100%. The comment was that the important thing was that I have a plan, and not just financially flounder around aimlessly. And I do have a plan! It may only be MY made-up, customized plan, but so far it's the best I can do.

I'm just concerned that DH will need another car here in the next year or 2. I would love for his $2500 1994 Mitsubishi to last several more years, but we've already spent at least another $1500 on repairs since we got the car last summer. His next car I'd like for him to move up into the $4000-4500 range, which means I need to start saving now, even while paying down the CC bills. Dave does not advocate this, but then again, he also advocates suspending your 401K contributions until you get out of debt, which horrifies me! I follow David Bach in that area, and pay my damn self first! Like I've said before, you cannot beat the concept of compound interest. It's about the best, most reliable deal out there!!!

Ask a question, get an answer

2007-05-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

I finally, at long last, registered on msn. so I could ask a question on the msn money boards that I read so faithfully. And I got some good answers immediately! Don't bother looking for me over there, BTW, I made up an email and username that is totally unidentifiable with me, even if you know me well (it has to do with my grandfather's middle name!). Anyway, the question was: if I have several 0% CC's, and I refuse to pay a $175 cancellation fee with Cingular, can the totally non-related CC's penalize me and cancel the 0% APR for jacking Cingular around? The answer: Yes! Yikes. I guess I better pay Cingular's unfair extortion fee.

DH was frustrated at work today and needs to see a dentist soon. I told him we better get him an appt. before he quits so he can use his health insurance. He said he was thinking of just quitting this week and starting at Toyota next week. I told him he can't do that, that we need his salary for the next 4 days. He realized that yes, we do, although he wasn't happy about hearing it. Hey, I'm just the messenger I had to remind him! I also frequently have to remind him, hey you think I want to be working 2 jobs???